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PRINCETON  . NEW  JERSEY 

FROM  THE  LIBRARY  OF 
ROBERT  ELLIOTT  SPEER 

DS  884  .K3  C5 

Clark,  E.  Warren  1849-1907. 
Katz  Awa,  "the  Bismarck  of 
Japan" 


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{Photographed  hy  the  Author.) 
KATZ  AWA  AND  lYESATO  TOKUGAWA  IN  GATEWAY  OF 
GARDEN — KATZ  ON  THE  RIGHT. 


,)</ 

KATZ  AWA 


‘‘THE  BISMARCK  OF> 


APR  13  1959 


OR  THE  STORY  ( 
A NOBLE  LIFE 


'Logical 


BY 

E.  WARREN  CLARK 

Formerly  Professor  in  the  Japanese  Imperial  University,  Tokio; 
Author  qf  “ Life  and  Adventure  in  Japan,”  “ Hong  Kong 
to  the  Himalayas,”  “ Rise  and  Fall  of  Tycoonism 
in  Japan,”  “A  Plea  for  Patriotism,”  Etc.; 

Also  Rector  during  recent  years  in  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church. 


NEW  YORK 


B.  F.  BUCK  & COMPANY 

l6o  FIFTH  AVENUE 


Copyright,  1904,  by 

B.  F.  BUCK. 

All  rights  reserved. 


THIS  SAMPLE  SKETCH 
OF  ONE  OF  THE  NOBLEST  CHARACTERS  OF 

MODERN  HISTORY  IN  DAI  NIPPON 
IS 

2)e&icateC> 

TO  THE 

CHILDREN  OF  JAPAN 

BY 

“ CLARK-SAMA,”  THE  “ SHIDZ-U-O-KA  - SEN-SI, 
WHO  TAUGHT  SOME  OF  THEM 
IN  TIMES  PAST, 

AND  WHO  IN  MEMORY  AND  IN  HOPE 
STILL  LOVES  THEM  ALL  ! 


CHRISTMAS,  1904, 


CHAPTER  I 


INTRODUCTORY 

“ Who  is  Katz  Awa?  ” you  ask. 

“ Is  he  a Christian?  ” No. 

“ Is  he  the  product  of  our  own  civiliza- 
tion?” No. 

“ Did  he  ever  have  the  advantages  of 
churches,  universities  and  libraries?”  No. 

“ If  he  is  neither  Christian  nor  civilized 
in  the  popular  occidental  sense,  possessing 
neither  physical  superiority,  military  glory, 
nor  classic  lore,  who  can  he  be  ? ” 

My  answer,  in  the  first  place  is.  He  is 
THE  MAN  I LOVE — the  man  to  whom  per- 
sonally I owe  more  gratitude  and  respect 
than  to  any  individual  I ever  met,  and  I 
have  met  great  men  both  in  heathen  and  in 
Christian  lands. 

Perhaps  I love  Katz  Awa  the  best,  be- 
cause I know  him  the  best,  and  now  that 
within  recent  years  he  has  gone  to  his 
rest,  with  the  ancestors  he  so  much  honored 


7 


and  venerated,  it  is  my  privilege  to  fulfil 
the  last  permission  he  gave  me,  in  his  mod- 
est home  in  Tokio,  to  write  a short  sketch 
of  his  life. 

Not  a biography,  but  only  a simple  state- 
ment of  his  simple  life — a life  spent  in  at- 
taining worth  not  wealth,  in  illustrating 
the  fact  that  some  things  are  to  be  coveted 
and  earnestly  sought,  though  not  included 
in  any  inventory  of  material  possessions, 
and  a life  that  made  its  impress  upon  his 
beloved  country,  and  through  his  country 
upon  the  world. 

“ But  not  a Christian,”  you  say. 

Not  a Christian,  indeed;  yet  possessing 
more  of  the  essential  human  characteris- 
tics of  the  lowly  Nazarene  than  I have  else- 
where seen  in  a world  which  I have  thrice 
girdled. 

Katz  Awa’s  meekness  and  patience,  his 
unspeakable  self-sacrifice,  his  devotion  to 
principles  unpopular  and  at  first  misunder- 
stood, his  heroism  in  hours  of  danger  and 
his  silence  in  hours  of  suffering,  his  con- 
tempt of  death  and  yet  his  caution  in  lead- 
ership, marked  him  from  the  first  as  the 
most  noteworthy  regenerator  of  a country 

8 


destined  and  defined  in  prophecy  to  be 
“ Born  in  a day.” 

The  Almighty  declares  of  the  pagan 
Cyrus,  “ I have  girded  thee,  though  thou 
hast  not  known  ME.”  The  unknown  God, 
whom  this  man  Katz  Awa  unwittingly 
served — whose  infinite  beauty  and  grace 
he  recognized  and  rejoiced  in,  when  a 
glimpse  of  the  Divine  was  granted  him  be- 
fore his  death — this  God,  whose  ways  are 
past  finding  out,  was  doubtless  using  this 
man,  as  he  used  Cyrus  of  old,  or  else  we 
fail  in  interpreting  the  spirit  of  St.  Paul’s 
declaration  on  Mars  Hill. 

“ But  can  a person  be  truly  great  who  is 
not  the  product  of  our  own  civilization  ? ” 
you  ask.  Unhesitatingly  I answer,  “Yes.” 

When,  in  1854,  we  sent  our  tactful  and 
courteous  Commodore  Perry  to  unbar  the 
closed  gates  of  Japan,  there  was  more  there 
to  “ open  ” than  some  of  us  ever  dreamed. 
As  late  as  1871,  three  of  us  American 
teachers — pioneers  of  what  we  call  civiliza- 
tion, and  living  300  miles  from  each  other 
in  the  interior  of  Japan — simultaneously 
discovered  this  hidden  fact.  It  was  just 
at  the  close  of  the  feudal  days,  and  each 


9 


one  of  us  resided  more  than  a year  at  a 
time  without  seeing  a white  face  or  hear- 
ing the  familiar  accents  of  our  English 
tongue. 

Out  of  range  of  railroads,  telegraphs  and 
beefsteaks,  we  at  least  learned  there  were 
many'  things  in  Old  Japan  whose  presence 
we  scarcely  suspected,  and  a few  qualities 
— moral,  social  and  material — we  might  well 
covet.  Katz  Awa  it  was  who  placed  two 
out  of  the  three  in  the  distant  provinces  of 
the  east  and  west  coast  and  cheered  us 
with  his  counsel.  As  there  w’as  no  suitable 
house  for  me  to  occupy  at  Shidzuoka, 
the  “ St.  Helena  of  Tycoonism,”  he  told 
the  Gon-Daisanje,  or  governors,  to  give 
me  a large  Buddhist  temple  in  which  to 
live.  Subsequently,  in  the  name  of  lyesato 
Tokugawa  (now  President  of  the  House 
of  Peers),  he  built  me  a costly  and  sub- 
stantial stone  house  on  the  corner  of  the 
castle-moat,  which  I furnished  in  palatial 
style,  and  which  was  certainly  more  com- 
fortable than  any  residence  occupied  by 
himself  or  by  the  Tycoon  in  his  palmiest 
day.  Over  this  house — the  first  of  its  kind 
ever  constructed  in  the  interior — floated 


lO 


E.  WARREN  CLARK, 


k.  ». 


two  flags,  suspended  from  two  gigantic 
pine  trees  growing  on  the  moat  of  lyeas* 
former  castle. 

The  Japanese  call  our  ensign  the 
“ Flower  Flag,”  and  they  say  our  stars 
match  their  Sun  Flag,  both  pointing  to  a 
common  destiny.  [The  fitness  of  this  I 
saw  recently,  while  paying  my  respects  to 
Prince  Fushimi,  the  adopted  brother  of  the 
Mikado.  Over  the  St.  Regis  Hotel,  where 
he  was  stopping,  in  New  York,  floated  the 
flag  of  the  Sun  Rising  land,  together  with 
the  Stars  and  Stripes,  while  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce  did  its  best  to  entertain  the 
Prince,  and  convince  him  that  the  commer- 
cial interests  of  the  two  countries  were 
identical.] 

It  was  while  living  in  the  old  Buddhist 
temple  referred  to  that  my  eyes  were 
“ opened  ” to  a civilization  older  if  not 
equal  to  my  own,  and  that  I innocently 
smiled  at  what  the  conservatives  called 
“ The  White  Peril  ” of  my  coming  among 
them. 

Peaceful,  indeed,  was  the  seclusion  and 
poetic  beauty  of  that  moss-grown  temple, 
with  its  pine  groves,  its  cherry  blossoms, 
its  pagodas  and  its  graves. 


13 


I have  attended  three  theological  institu- 
tions on  two  continents,  but  here  I was 
getting  my  best  insight  and  sweetest  inter- 
pretation of  the  golden  rule.  Even  the 
melody  of  those  great  bronze  bells,  boom- 
ing every  evening  solemnly  and  slow,  had 
kindness  for  their  key-note,  while  the  sigh- 
ing of  the  wind  through  the  feathery  bam- 
boo treetops  seemed  to  whisper  new  ac- 
cents of  serenity  and  peace.  Yes,  here  I 
learned  as  never  before  what  kindness 
meant.  Gratitude  and  obedience  took  on  a 
new  meaning;  reverence  and  respect  were 
a revelation  to  one  fresh  from  the  rude 
“ rushes  ” and  hazings  of  an  American 
college;  deference  and  filial  courtesy  to 
parents  and  superiors  were  novel  charac- 
teristics to  one  accustomed  to  the  collegiate 
vernacular  of  “ Prex,”  the  ‘‘  old  man,”  and 
similar  slang  phrases.  Not  one  of  the  six 
hundred  students  under  my  charge  ever  ap- 
proached my  presence  without  a salutation 
of  respect,  and  as  for  gifts  and  little  tokens 
of  affection  and  appreciation,  they  simply 
overwhelmed  me. 

My  interpreter,  Shimojo,  lived  with  me, 
as  well  as  the  little  ten-year-old  son  of 


14 


Governor  Okubo  of  Tokio,  also  the  son  of 
a Japanese  admiral  who  committed  hari- 
kari  on  the  bridge  of  his  vessel  when  the 
old  “ Stonewall  Jackson  ” (the  first  iron- 
clad owned  by  the  Japanese)  rammed  and 
sunk  his  ship  in  Hakodadi  harbor. 

Shimojo  was  the  most  refined  Japanese 
I have  ever  seen.  His  features  were  finely 
chiselled,  his  dress  immaculate,  and  his 
manners  those  of  a Chesterfield.  Yet  his 
frail  body  contained  the  heart  of  a lion, 
and  more  than  once  he  stood  between  me 
and  personal  danger.  His  own  life  was 
threatened  by  relatives  for  assisting  in  my 
first  Bible  class  held  in  the  interior,  at- 
tended voluntarily  by  my  students,  and  to 
which  I even  invited  the  priests  of  the 
temple.  (The  first  self-supporting  church 
in  the  interior  of  Japan  resulted  in  after 
years  from  that  Bible  class  in  the  Buddhist 
temple,  where  the  students  all  sat  on  matted 
floors.  The  church  now  has  pulpit  and 
pews,  cost  $7,000,  and  supports  a native 
pastor.) 

Shimojo’s  face  fairly  beamed  as  he 
helped  me  explain  the  Gospels,  or  answered 
the  fusillade  of  questions  that  came  from 


15 


those  previously  instructed  in  pure  Shinto- 
ism, ritualistic  Buddhism,  or  conservative 
Confucianism,  and  whose  eyes  daily  wit- 
nessed that  the  edict  against  Christianity, 
stigmatizing  it  as  “ the  evil  sect  called 
Christian,”  was  still  in  its  place  on  the 
proclamation  board.  This  original  edict, 
by  the  way,  I afterwards  secured  when  it 
was  “ temporarily  taken  down,”  and  I 
shipped  it  to  the  United  States  as  a mis- 
sionary souvenir. 

Shimojo  was  acute  in  science  as  w^ell  as 
in  religion,  nor  could  I have  expounded  the 
intricacies  of  chemistry  and  physics  with- 
out his  aid.  No  experiment  was  so  difficult 
or  dangerous,  but  he  was  willing  to  stand 
with  me  “ behind  the  gun  ” and  take  his 
chances.  Two  pictures  on  my  table  show 
not  only  the  first  Bible  class,  but  the  first 
chemical  laboratory  also — built  for  me  by 
Katz  Awa — where  Shimojo  and  I made 
the  preliminary  explosives  of  gun-cotton, 
nitro-glycerin,  dynamite,  fulminate  of  mer- 
cury, and  the  Armstrong  fuse  composition, 
all  of  which  with  their  improved  succes- 
sors have  since  been  “ heard  from  ” at  the 
front.  If  they  act  as  energetically  in  prac- 

i6 


tice  as  we  found  them  in  the  laboratory,  I 
wonder  there  are  any  Russians  left ! 

Shimojo  did  not  succumb  to  explosives, 
but  he  did  die  from  over-study,  and  a huge 
stone  slab  in  the  Tokio  cemetery  now 
marks  his  grave.  On  the  slab’is  carved  a 
summary  of  Christian  doctrine,  written  by 
Nakamura  in  Chinese  characters.  Naka- 
mura himself  was  my  most  intimate  friend 
at  Shidzuoka.  He  had  once  been  to  Eng- 
land, and  lived  in  London  six  months,  he 
said,  without  a person  “ ever  speaking  a 
word  to  him  about  Christianity.”  He  gave 
up  an  offer  to  go  round  the  world  with  the 
Iwakura  Embassy,  in  order  to  come  with 
me  to  Shidzuoka  and  “ search  the  Scrip- 
tures.” He  translated  Smiles’s  “ Self- 
help,”  John  Stewart  Mill  “ On  Liberty,” 
and  “ Primary  Truths  of  Religion,”  writ- 
ten by  my  uncle,  the  late  presiding  bishop 
of  the  Episcopal  Church.  Nakamura  also 
memorialized  the  government  to  give  Chris- 
tianity a “ trial,”  and  later  he  invited  me 
to  start  a Bible  class  at  “ Kristion  Zaki,” 
or  Christian  slope  in  Tokio,  which  I did, 
and  which  developed  into  a church.  Naka- 
mura’s grave  is  not  far  from  Shimojo’s, 


17 


and  near  the  more  recent  sarcophagus  of 
Katz  Awa.  The  former’s  final  message  to 
me  was  “ Your  future  and  forever  friend 
in  the  eternal  world.” 

Hatakayama’s  grave,  another  example  of 
over-study,  is  not  far  from  Shimojo’s.  The 
former  was  once  a student  at  New  Bruns- 
wick, N.  J.,  became  a Christian,  and  joined 
the  First  Reformed  Dutch  Church  there. 
Returning  to  Japan,  he  was  appointed  Di- 
rector of  the  Imperial  University,  and  he 
acted  as  my  assistant  and  interpreter  when, 
in  1873,  I lectured  on  foreign  countries  be- 
fore His  Majesty  the  Mikado  in  the  Im- 
perial Palace,  at  Akasaka,  Tokio.  Dying 
of  over-study  (as  I sadly  predicted  he 
would),  he  was  buried  with  imposing 
Shinto  ceremonial.  Long,  indeed,  is  the 
sad  list,  both  in  this  country  and  in  their 
native  land,  of  the  Japanese  students  sac- 
rificed in  their  ambitious  endeavors  to  at- 
tain in  a day  the  intellectual  results  of 
centuries  of  thought  and  of  toil. 

They  are  just  as  much  the  heroes  of  pa- 
triotic devotion  and  endeavor  as  the  vic- 
tims sacrificed  at  Port  Arthur.  Katz  Awa’s 
own  son,  studying  in  the  Naval  Academy 

18 


at  Annapolis,  was  another  such  instance, 
and  seven  or  eight  Japanese  graves  at  New 
Brunswick  tell  the  same  story. 

When  Katz  Awa  sent  me  to  Shidzuoka, 
he  well  knew  that  he  was  locating  me  in 
the  hot-bed  of  the  “ Jo-ii  ” or  anti-foreign 
party.  At  the  time  I was  blissfully  igno- 
rant of  the  fact,  and  realized  it  only  when 
shot  at  once  or  twice.  Without  unduly 
alarming  me,  Katz  Awa  ordered  half  a 
dozen  Tokugawa  Guards  to  remain  night 
and  day  at  my  temple  gate,  “ just  to  be 
within  easy  reach,”  he  quietly  said.  In 
1896,  however,  he  told  me  frankly  how 
anxious  he  and  Governor  Okubo  used  to  be 
for  my  safety.  Scores  of  the  two-sworded 
and  “ unreconstructed  ” Samurai  used  to 
swarm  around  me,  with  their  suggestive 
red  scabbards  at  Shidzuoka,  and  my  neck 
used  to  “ itch  ” involuntarily  whenever  I 
rode  past  them. 

It  was  the  epoch  of  transition,  when 
Sakuma-Shozen  was  assassinated  for  even 
proposing  to  the  authorities  the  employ- 
ment of  foreign  teachers,  and  when  Katski, 
my  former  student  in  Albany,  was  be- 
headed at  Saga  for  trying  to  steer  his  own 


19 


province  into  open  rupture  with  Korea, 
^linister  Okubo,  who  ordered  the  decapita- 
tion of  Katski  and  his  eleven  accomplices, 
himself  fell  a victim  subsequently  to  the 
“ unreconstructed  ” assassins. 

My  own  friend,  Okubo-Ichio,  left  me  in 
Shidzuoka  to  become  governor  of  Tokio, 
presenting  me,  on  parting,  the  long,  steel 
sword,  sharp  as  a razor,  which  had  been 
an  heir-loom  in  his  family  for  three  hun- 
dred years.  Katz  Awa  also  gave  me  his 
short  (hari-kiri)  sword,  which  he  had 
worn  when  admiral  of  the  Tokugawa 
Xavy.  He  presented  me  also,  as  a sort  of 
love  token,  a gold  ring  with  an  anchor- 
seal. 

The  short  sword  of  Katz  Awa  I always 
kept  (for  good  luck)  under  my  pillow,  and 
the  long  sword,  which  was  so  sharp  I could 
have  shaved  with  it,  was  a very  suggest- 
ive reminder  of  what  those  red-scabbard 
swords  could  do  if  they  tried. 

Katz  Awa  himself  was  well  schooled  in 
this  sort  of  thing,  for  although  he  per- 
sonally never  adopted  European  costume, 
as  Sakuma-Shozan  had  done,  or  cut  his 
hair  in  barbarian  style,  still  his  life  was 


20 


repeatedly  attempted,  even  before  he  com- 
m'itted  that  unpardonable  sin  of  sending 
the  first  two  foreign  teachers  into  the  pro- 
vincial and  interior  strongholds  of  feudal- 
ism, viz.,  the  future  author  of  the  “ Mi- 
kado’s Empire,”  at  Fukui,  and  myself  at 
Shidzuoka. 

Here  I learned,  while  Katz  Awa  was 
near  by,  as  when  he  was  called  away  from 
me  to  be  privy  counsellor  to  the  Emperor, 
that  he  was  himself  the  final  type  and  prod- 
uct of  that  Tokugawa  dual  system  that 
has  been  the  enigma  of  foreigners,  but  is 
the  real  foundation  of  that  diplomatic 
acumen  and  military  success,  which  has 
recently  surprised  a world  which  at  first 
thought  it  was  “ opening  ” some  dark  con- 
tinent. 


21 


CHAPTER  II 


KATZ  AWA^S  YOUTH  AND  EARLY  DAYS 

Let  us  glance  in  this  chapter  at  some  of 
the  events  associated  with  Katz  Awa’s  per- 
sonal history — events  which  he  controlled 
or  modified  in  each  successive  crisis. 

The  statesmanship  he  exemplified  in  ul- 
timately attaining  the  unification  of  the 
empire,  has  led  to  his  being  called  “ the 
Bismarck  of  Japan.”  There  is  this  differ- 
ence, however,  that  the  unity  of  the  former 
German  confederation  was  only  achieved 
through  the  outside  pressure  of  a san- 
guinary Franco-Prussian  War.  It  was 
after  Sedan,  and  at  Versailles  itself,  that 
German  unity  was  declared.  While  in  the 
case  of  Katz  Awa  there  was  no  Sedan,  and 
no  humiliation  to  the  vanquished,  like  that 
at  Versailles.  The  surrender  of  military 
power  on  the  part  of  Tokugawa  Keiki,  act- 


22 


ing  solely  on  Katz  Awa’s  advice,  was  vol- 
untary, patriotic,  and  immediate. 

IMoreover,  it  secured  by  one  stroke  of 
self-abnegation  and  self-sacrifice  conditions 
of  a national  unity  which  we  at  the  same 
epoch  in  the  “ sixties  ” were  struggling  to 
attain  in  the  United  States  at  the  cost  of 
nearly  a million  lives.  Provincialism  and 
disgruntled  sectionalism  in  Japan,  in  Ger- 
many, and  in  America  had  to  be  disposed 
of  before  the  “ restoration  ” of  unity  could 
be  achieved.  But  it  required  a Bismarck 
backed  by  Von  Moltke’s  bayonets  to  se- 
cure the  one,  and  a civil  war,  sealed  by  the 
blood  of  an  assassinated  Lincoln,  to  accom- 
plish the  other.  While,  in  Japan,  the  “ Bis- 
marck ” of  the  occasion,  though  himself 
trained  in  military  tactics  and  backed  by 
the  two-sworded  chivalry  resulting  from 
three  centuries  of  valor,  voluntarily  sur- 
renders to  a principle,  and,  with  a patriotic 
loyalty  unexampled  in  modern  times,  bids 
his  master,  the  Shogun,  to  meekly  step 
down  and  out,  that  his  Imperial  Majesty, 
the  Mikado,  may  again  be  unveiled  and 
step  to  the  front  as  Emperor  of  a united 
kingdom. 


25 


Katz  Awa,  like  our  own  Lincoln,  was 
born  of  humble  parentage,  and  worked  his 
way  up  to  prominence  and  usefulness. 

He  was  born  in  the  city  of  Shidzuoka, 
in  January,  1826,  and  was  the  eldest  son 
of  a feudal  retainer  of  the  Shogunate.  His 
father  early  retired  from  official  life,  and 
young  “ Rintaro  Katsu,”  as  Katz  Awa  was 
then  called,  was  installed  with  official  sanc- 
tion to  the  headship  of  the  family.  The 
youth  was  then  but  sixteen  years  of  age, 
and  his  father,  having  been  of  extrava- 
gant habits,  left  him  nothing  but  debts. 
Thus  early  was  responsibility  placed  upon 
one  destined  to  carve  his  way  through  the 
world.  “ My  first  lesson  as  a young  Sa- 
murai,” he  writes  in  a personal  sketch  he 
once  gave  me,  “ was  in  fencing.  My  fam- 
ily having  practised  fencing  for  genera- 
tions, I was  placed  under  the  care  of  the 
most  illustrious  and  skilful  fencing  master 
inYedo.  During  the  winter  nights  we  were 
ordered  out  to  the  suburbs  of  the  city, 
where  we  would  first  sit  down  on  a stone 
step  in  front  of  a shrine  and  meditate  tran- 
quilly. Then  we  would  rise,  brandish  our 
long  wooden  swords,  and  fence  until  dawn. 

26 


Our  instructor  told  us  it  was  necessary  to 
learn  ‘ Zengaku/  one  of  the  Buddhist  phi- 
losophies, to  attain  the  true  art  of  fencing. 
So  I studied  it  at  the  Temple  of  Kotokuji 
until  I was  nearly  nineteen  years  of  age.” 

Young  Katsu  also  used  his  fencing  skill 
in  helping  support  the  family,  but  found  it 
slow  work,  so  he  commenced  to  study 
Dutch  under  Nagai,  a Japanese  teacher  of 
Dutch  then  living  in  Yedo.  Such  was 
Katsu’s  application  and  diligence  that  he 
made  great  progress,  and  actually  copied 
an  entire  Dutch  dictionary  three  times, 
selling  two  of  the  copies  to  a local  book- 
seller and  realizing  therefrom  a goodly 
sum  to  pay  his  father’s  creditors.  At  an- 
other time,  when  the  paternal  creditors 
were  pressing  the  youth  for  payment,  he 
frankly  opened  the  half-empty  purse  and 
poured  the  pittance  contained  therein  on 
the  floor,  thus  appealing  to  their  liberality. 
Many  humble  expedients  were  early  re- 
sorted to  to  help  this  frugal  family  fund. 
Meanwhile  Katsu  continued  to  study  the 
foreign  language  with  energy,  patience  and 
perseverance. 

This  terribly  difficult  task  was  the  foun- 


27 


dation  of  his  subsequent  success,  for  it  was 
through  the  Dutch  language  that  he  became 
acquainted  with  books  on  medicine,  navi- 
gation, maps,  charts,  and  foreign  countries 
in  general. 

This  was  at  an  epoch  when  to  know 
anything  about  foreign  customs  and  ways 
of  thinking  was  a golden  opportunity  and 
a rare  attainment.  People  and  Daimio 
princes  were  already  becoming  alarmed  at 
the  possible  coming  of- the  foreign  “bar- 
barians ” to  the  sacred  and  secluded  shores 
of  Japan.  In  modern  parlance  the  “white 
peril  ” was  at  its  height,  and  every  geo- 
graphical and  descriptive  piece  of  informa- 
tion that  could  be  obtained  about  these  un- 
welcome invaders  was  treasured.  Katsu 
soon  became  a sort  of  alien  encyclopaedia 
to  be  hastily  consulted  on  emergencies  and 
how  to  treat  them.  He  was  appointed 
translator  of  foreign  books  by  the  Shogun 
(Tycoon),  then  made  chief  of  the  bureau, 
and  finally  was  promoted  to  be  president 
of  the  naval  training  school  at  Nagasaki. 
This  was  when  he  was  thirty-two  years  of 
age,  and  about  a year  before  Commodore 

28 


Perry’s  advent  with  those  barbarian  ships 
in  the  Bay  of  Uraga. 

At  this  early  period  only  the  Dutch  were 
permitted  to  come  to  Japan.  They  had  a 
little  “ concession  ” of  a dozen  acres  or  so, 
called  Dezima,  at  Nagasaki.  It  is  separated 
from  the  mainland  by  a moat,  has  substan- 
tial stone  buildings  and  warehouses  like 
those  in  Holland,  and  in  walking  the  short 
and  narrow  streets,  one  might  well  imagine 
himself  in  the  land  of  dykes. 

It  was  here  that  Katsu  had  his  first  naval 
training  school.  His  faculty  consisted  of 
six  Dutch  officers,  sent  by  the  King  of  Hol- 
land, and  his  students  numbered  about 
forty.  Katsu  conducted  the  naval  school 
creditably,  taught  practical  gunnery,  dis- 
tinguished himself  as  a naval  officer,  and 
produced  graduates,  some  of  whom  have 
since  been  “ heard  from.”  Admiral  Ito 
and  General  Saigo  are  among  the  number. 

In  1854  Katsu  stood  on  Kanagawa  bluff, 
and  saw  Commodore  Perry’s  ships  coming 
up  the  Bay  of  Yedo  against  wind  and  tide, 
their  black  scarfs  of  smoke  trailing  behind. 
It  was  the  first  and  finest  illustration  of 
steam-power  he  had  yet  witnessed.  Turn- 

29 


ing  to  his  attendants,  he  said,  “ People  who 
can  make  ships  that  sail  against  wind  and 
tide  are  not  such  barbarians  after  all.” 

And  later  he  added,  after  hearing  the 
salute  of  the  howitzers  on  Perry’s  small 
boats  accompanying  the  landing  party, 
‘‘  People  who  can  manifest  such  power  and 
such  patience  at  the  same  time — when  we 
are  trying  to  thwart  them  in  their  purpose 
— are  a people  whose  friendship  is  worth 
cultivating.” 

A survivor  of  the  Perry  expedition, 
whom  I recently  met,  narrated  that  when 
the  “ Susquehanna  ” and  “ Powhatan  ” 
first  came  up  the  bay,  long  lines  of  sanpan 
boats,  sculled  by  naked  oarsmen,  attempted 
to  girdle  the  ships  with  huge  straw  ropes 
and  pull  them  back.  Suddenly,  by  acci- 
dent or  design,  the  deep,  sonorous  whistle 
of  the  “ Susquehanna  ” blew  a shrill  blast. 
Such  a sound  in  heaven  or  earth  had  never 
been  heard  in  that  region  before,  and  those 
sanpan  boats  disappeared  in  a twinkling. 
This  gentleman  gave  me  the  original  pic- 
ture of  Perry’s  landing,  in  which  event  he 
took  part.  I have  made  a small  reproduc- 
tion, and  could  also  give,  if  necessary,  the 


30 


photograph  subsequently  taken  in  the 
school  laboratory  which  Katz  Awa  built 
for  me  at  Shidzuoka,  when  he  put  me  over 
a school  similar  to  the  one  he  had  superin- 
tended twenty  years  before  at  Nagasaki. 
In  this  second  picture  are  the  scientific 
presents  Perry  brought  to  the  “ Tycoon,” 
and  they  went  with  the  ex-Tycoon  to 
Shidzuoka— air-pumps,  electric  machines, 
model  locomotive  and  steam-engine,  horse- 
shoe magnet,  mariner’s  compass,  barome- 
ter, empty  bottles  and  all.  Where  they 
came  from  was  a mystery  to  me,  until  I 
discovered  the  “ Standard  Yard  of  the 
U.  S.”  in  heavy  brass,  and  the  “Weights 
and  Measures  of  the  U.  S.”  in  iron  and 
wood.  Then  I knew  these  things  must 
have  been  given  by  Perry.  They  were  hid- 
den over  one  of  the  castle  gates  where  I 
“ happened  ” to  find  them. 

The  great  event  of  Katsu’s  life,  from  a 
nautical  point  of  view,  was  soon  to  happen. 
He  was  about  to  become  a second  Colum- 
bus and  discover  America.  He  actually 
sailed,  or  rather  steamed,  to  San  Fran- 
cisco in  a vessel  of  his  own.  In  1858 — a 
full  presidential  term  after  Perry’s  landing 


31 


— the  permanent  treaty  was  to  be  ratified 
between  America  and  Japan.  The  United 
States  warship  “ Powhatan  ” was  selected 
to  carry  the  Japanese  ambassador  and  his 
suite.  (From  the  court  of  the  “Tycoon,” 
by  the  way,  all  of  whom,  as  a child,  I once 
saw,  including  “ Tommy,”  riding  up  Broad- 
way, N.  Y.,  and  most  of  whom  returned  to 
their  chop-sticks  and  were  subsequently 
“ exiled  ” with  me  in  Shidzuoka.) 

Katsu,  having  obtained  information  about 
the  intended  Japanese  embassy,  was  eager 
to  be  identified  with  it  and  try  his  ability 
as  a navigator.  He  could  only  go  as  far 
with  them  as  a ship  could  sail,  but  that 
would  take  him  as  far  as  San  Francisco, 
where  he  would  “ see  the  world.”  He 
wrote  to  the  Shogun  (Tycoon),  saying  he 
wished  to  go.  His  request  was  at  once 
granted. 

But  things  moved  slowly  in  those  days. 
It  ^^as  at  first  planned  to  send  Japanese  of- 
ficials in  native  ceremonial  costume,  with 
swords,  head-dresses  and  presents,  in  a real 
Japanese  warship.  But  up  to  this  time 
the  building  of  large  ships  of  any  kind  had 
been  prohibited.  The  only  vessel  available 


32 


was  a tiny  steamer  of  scarcely  250  tons, 
built  in  Holland,  and  called  the  “ Kanrin 
Maru.”  It  was  162  feet  long,  24  feet  wide, 
had  a nominal  100  horse-power,  and  carried 
12  small  guns.  Katsu,  who  was  still  a 
young  man,  was  appointed  “ captain  ” of 
this  miniature  progenitor  of  Admiral  To- 
go’s modern  “ Mikase  ” battleship.  It  re- 
quired thirty-seven  days  sailing,  with  an 
unskilled  crew,  and  in  rough  weather,  for 
this  belligerent  little  craft  to  reach  San 
Francisco.  Fortunately  for  the  ambassador 
and  his  suite,  they  had  sailed  on  the  United 
States  “ Powhatan,”  although  Katsu’s  war- 
ship was  supposed  to  “ protect  ” them  ! 

Nothing  could  discount  Katsu’s  youthful 
enthusiasm  about  this  voyage.  He  writes  of 
it  “ as  the  most  brilliant  event  ever  seen.” 
It  was  certainly  brilliant  to  him,  for  it 
taught  him  experimental  navigation,  how 
to  manage  a steamship  and  warship,  how 
big  the  ocean  is,  and  introduced  him  and 
his  curious  crew  to  the  Western  wonders 
of  San  Francisco,  the  only  American  city 
he  ever  saw.  The  city  was  less  than  a 
tenth  the  size  that  it  is  now.  Still  it  com- 
pared favorably  with  the  size  of  young 


33 


Katsu’s  “ warship.”  The  people  were  very 
hospitable,  and  entertained  the  strangers 
by  showing  them  their  streets  and  docks, 
forts  and  light-houses,  hospitals  and  fac- 
tories, gaslight  and  theatres,  churches, 
schools  and  steam-cars,  until  Katsu’s  ideas 
of  “ civilization  ” became  decidedly  dazed. 
This  was  in  February,  i860,  preceding  our 
Civil  War,  and  ten  years  from  the  time  I 
.left  the  same  city  by  personal  invitation  of 
Katz  Awa  to  go  to  Japan. 

A dozen  light  volumes  on  the  “ History 
of  the  Navy,”  which  he  presented  to  me 
during  my  last  visit  in  Tokio,  give  interest- 
ing details  of  this  pioneer  voyage,  includ- 
ing their  visit  to  Honolulu  on  the  return 
trip,  where  they  were  likewise  entertained. 
The  famous  teacher  Fukuzawa,  now  re- 
vered throughout  Japan,  was  also  per- 
mitted to  go  on  this  cruise,  and  has  written 
a most  graphic  description.  No  one  can 
doubt  the  intellectual  and  moral  effect 
which  this  (Columbus-like)  experience  ex- 
erted upon  the  impressionable  minds  of 
young  Katsu  and  Fukuzawa,  or  that  the 
statesmanship  of  the  one  and  the  educa- 


34 


HARUKO,  THE  EMPRESS  OF  JAPAN,  IN  ANCIENT  COURT 
COSTUME. 


tional  enthusiasm  of  the  other  largely  date 
from  this  remarkable  voyage. 

It  was  Katsu  and  Fukuzawa  who  after- 
wards started  the  School  of  Sciences  at 
Shidzuoka,  of  which  I became  director,  so 
that  I owe  them  both  a debt  of  gratitude 
for  the  privilege  of  being  one  of  the  three 
foreigners  whom  Japanese  text-books  to- 
day describe  as  “ founders  of  the  educa- 
tional system  of  New  Japan.”  Fukuzawa 
has  himself  declined  every  official  appoint- 
ment and  adhered  steadfastly  to  the  work 
of  instruction.  His  pupils,  occupying  the 
highest  positions  in  the  government,  are 
his  best  testimonials.  Katsu,  also,  on  his 
return  from  America,  was  appointed  Presi- 
dent of  the  Naval  College  at  Kobe.  It  was 
there  that  he  instructed  the  late  Count 
Mutsu,  the  present  Admiral  Ito,  and  men 
of  similar  character  and  influence.  Here 
he  “ convinced  the  jingoists  of  their  fool- 
ishness ” by  constructing  fortifications  of 
modern  type,  introducing  European  meth- 
ods, and  insisting  that  the  separated  ships 
of  the  Shogun  and  feudal  lords  should  be 
unified  into  one  great  navy.  He  was  the 
chief  commissioner  for  systemizing  and 

37 


centralizing  military  and  naval  alYairs,  and 
he  planned  a national  programme  in  these 
matters,  which,  though  delayed,  has  since 
been  more  than  realized. 

In  June,  1862,  Katz  Awa  was  appointed 
President  of  the  Naval  College  at  Yedo, 
and  in  August  of  the  same  year  he  was 
made  Minister  of  Marine.  It  was  at  this 
time  that  Sakamoto,  the  Tosa  patriot  of 
“ strenuous  ” type,  visited  him  at  his  home, 
carrying  a concealed  sword  with  the  in- 
tention of  killing  him. 

His  host  received  him  kindly,  and  frankly 
explained  his  views  and  reasons  for  the 
policy  pursued,  all  of  which  was  so  con- 
vincing that  Sakamoto  relented,  and,  after 
confessing  the  object  of  his  visit,  begged 
Katz’s  forgiveness  and  asked  to  be  ac- 
cepted as  his  follower.  He  was  ever  after 
a faithful  friend.  It  was  through  his  en- 
deavors that  the  court  was  persuaded  to 
adopt  advanced  plans  for  the  extension  of 
the  naval  force,  and  that  the  Shogun  him- 
self came  to  Hiogo  to  select  a naval  base. 
Friendships  made  under  circumstances  like 
those  of  Sakamoto’s  visit  are  lasting, 


though  somewhat  dangerous  in  the  method 
of  acquiring. 

Katz  Awa  told  me  that  he  once  had  a 
similar  visit  from  three  Samurai  armed 
with  two  swords  each,  and  in  full  cere- 
monial dress,  who  politely  sent  in  their 
names  with  the  message  that  they  had 
come  to  kill  him.  Without  a moment’s 
hesitation  Katz  Awa  walked  unarmed  into 
the  reception-room,  where  the  unbidden 
guests  w’ere  seated.  After  the  usual  salu- 
tations Katz  Awa  remarked  quietly  that 
before  they  preceded  to  carry  out  their 
threat  he  would  like  to  explain  a few  things 
to  them.  He  was  at  once  so  cool,  so  brave 
and  so  convincing,  that  they  were  con- 
verted as  quickly  as  Sakamoto  had  been, 
apologized  for  their  action  and  became  his 
staunchest  friends.  Had  they,  on  the  con- 
trary, carried  out  their  threat,  not  one  of 
them  would  have  attempted  to  escape,  but 
all  three  w'ould  have  committed  “ hari- 
kari  ” on  the  spot.  Katz  Awa  knew  this 
and  realized  what  sort  of  sincerity  he  was 
dealing  with.  The  first  item  of  news  he 
received  on  shipboard  when  he  returned 


39 


from  America  was  that  “ Li,”  the  Tycoon’s 
prime  minister,  had  been  assassinated  by 
the  anti-foreign  Mito  clan  for  concluding 
the  treaty  with  America,  which  Katz  and 
the  embassy  had  gone  across  the  sea  to 
ratify. 


JEWEL  OF  THE  ORDER  OF  THE  RISING  SUN. 

Grand  Cordon  of  the  Order  of  the  Rising  Sun.  Decoration  conferred 
upon  Katz  Awa,  a month  before  his  death. 


40 


CHAPTER  III 


KATZ  AWA^S  MILITARY  PREARRANGEMENTS 

" A RECENT  war  correspondent  in  the  Out- 
look discovers  to  his  readers  a peculiar 
fact  which  a few  of  us  learned  in  Japan 
years  ago,  and  which  shows  that  military 
matters  in  that  country  do  not  go  by  hap- 
hazard. Mr.  George  Kennan  remarks  that 
Americans  must  have  been  struck  with  the 
frequent  repetition  of  the  words  “ as  pre- 
arranged ” in  the  official  dispatches  from 
the  Yalu  and  Port  Arthur. 

Every  strategic  maneuver  of  the  first 
Japanese  army  was  thus  described,  and  the 
same  word  is  used  again  and  again  by  Ad- 
miral Togo,  who,  by  the  way,  occupies  the 
top  notch  on  the  nautical  step-ladder  which 
Katz  Awa  “ prearranged.”  “ I have  re- 
cently had  an  opportunity  to  see  what  ‘ pre- 
arrangement ’ means,”  writes  Mr.  Kennan, 


41 


“ and  inasmuch  as  the  secret  of  Japanese 
success,  both  at  sea  and  on  land,  seems  to 
me  to  lie  in  this  one  word,  or  in  the  per- 
fectly organized  system  which  it  repre- 
sents, I purpose  in  this  letter  to  describe  it.” 
At  the  close  of  his  interesting  article  the 
same  observer  says : “ Imagine  my  sur- 
prise. Here  I saw  a people  who,  fifty  or 
sixty  years  ago,  were  using  mediaeval 
weapons  and  sailing  the  seas  in  junks. 
They  could  paint  enamel,  make  porcelain, 
cast  small  bronzes,  etc.,  but  no  one  would 
have  credited  them  with  the  capacity  of 
doing  big  things  in  a big  way.  When, 
therefore,  I find  them  creating  great  steel 
plants  and  gun-foundries,  making  13-inch 
rifled  cannon,  building  warships,  construct- 
ing huge  dry-docks,  employing  fifteen  thou- 
sand skilled  workmen  in  a single  estab- 
lishment, and  managing,  without  foreign 
assistance,  the  most  complicated  and  pon- 
derous machinery, — my  feeling  is  naturally 
of  surprise.”  No  doubt  1 

But  it  was  the  same  physically  fragile 
Katz  Awa,  who  in  those  old  “junk”  days 
was  building  the  precursors  of  these  things 
and  “ prearranging  ” the  advent  of  bigger 


42 


ones  at  Kobe  and  old  Yedo.  He  it  was 
who  in  1896  gave  me  the  permit  admitting 
me  to  that  revelation  of  naval  strength, 
“ Yokosuka,”  on  the  bay  south  of  Yoko- 
hama, where  buildings  like  those  of  the 
Brooklyn  Navy  Yard  astonished  me,  where 
a white  squadron  (now  gray)  lay  at  an- 
chor equal  to  our  own,  and  where  I went 
on  board  the  captured  Chinese  warship 
“ Chin  Yen,”  which  was  being  repaired  in 
the  largest  stone  dry-dock  I had  yet  visited. 
To  see  these  pigmy  Japanese,  lifting  a mas- 
sive steel  turret  entire  from  the  deck  of 
the  battleship  and  depositing  it  as  deftly 
and  gently  as  a cheese-box  on  the  shore, 
made  me  think  of  “ Gulliver’s  Travels.” 
But  who  was  the  Gulliver,  I didn’t  know. 
They  patched  up  a hole  through  which  one 
of  their  own  13-inch  shells  had  passed  and 
killed  thirty  Chinamen,  as  if  they  were  re- 
pairing an  old  lacquer  tray,  and  the  for- 
midable and  former  Chinese  flagship  is 
now  with  the  rest  of  Admiral  Togo’s 
squadron,  which  has  likewise,  by  “ prear- 
rangement,” been  secretly  repaired,  and  is 
now  waiting  to  welcome  the  “ Baltic  Fleet.” 
It  was  an  almost  irresistible  temptation  for 


43 


me  to  photograph  that  beautiful  white 
squadron,  lying  in  the  sunlight  so  peace- 
fully at  anchor.  But  I was  there  “ on  my 
honor,”  and  under  the  orders  of  the  only 
man  in  the  world  I always  and  implicitly 
obeyed;  so  I left  my  big  12  by  24  camera  in 
the  vestibule. 

Fully  as  great  a surprise  in  “ prearrange- 
ment,” however,  is  furnished  me  in  the 
tactics  and  descriptions  I find  contained  in 
the  personal  sketch  of  Katz  Awa’s  life,  a 
translation  of  which  he  gave  me  after  I 
returned  from  Yokosuka,  and  which, 
though  invaluable  in  the  light  it  sheds  on 
recent  Japanese  history,  I confess  I never 
read  nor  appreciated  until  a few  days  ago. 
It  is  manifestly  impossible,  in  the  frag- 
ment of  a chapter,  to  give  more  than  the 
gist  of  this  intensely  interesting  narrative, 
which  is  signed  by  Katz  Awa  himself. 

The  characteristic  touches  that  come 
occasionally  into  this  personal  delineation 
of  events  of  gravest  importance,  wherein 
the  chief  actor  refers  to  himself  with 
humility  and  modesty,  reveal  the  nature  of 
the  man.  Katz  Awa’s  prelude  embraces 
the  list  of  houses  culminating,  in  1600,  in 


44 


that  of  the  Tokugawas,  and  the  period  of 
peace  extending  to  the  tragic  “ Fushimi  af- 
fair ” in  the  suburbs  of  Kioto,  where  the 
Tokugawa  troops  came  finally  to  blows 
with  the  Satsuma  men  who  had  made  them- 
selves the  self-constituted  guardians  of  the 
hitherto  inert  Mikado. 

This  was  the  begining  of  political  chaos,  * 
and  the  hated  foreigners  clamoring  at  the 
gates  of  Japan  for  admission  made  it 
doubly  so.  Keiki  took  ship  for  Yedo,  and 
Saigo  soon  after  advanced  towards  the  city 
with  the  so-called  Mikado’s  army,  whose 
constant  war-cry  was,  “ Punish  and  depose 
the  Tycoon,  and  expel  the  barbarians ! ” 
with  whom  he  had  dared  to  conclude  a 
treaty.  This  was  the  critical  juncture, 
when  Katz  Awa  says  modestly : “ I was 
unexpectedly  placed  in  a most  responsible 
position.  Looking  back  upon  the  long  line 
of  the  Tokugawas,  and  foreseeing  what 
consequences  must  attend  their  constrained 
surrender  of  power,  but  desiring  above  all 
the  preservation  of  peace,  the  salvation  of 
the  people  from  suffering,  and  the  success- 
ful continuance  of  our  foreign  relations,  I 
had  little  time  to  think  of  the  mere  su- 


45 


premacy  of  the  House  of  Tokugawa,  com- 
pared with  my  true-hearted  endeavor  and 
desire  to  serve  my  country  at  large.  In 
some  things  I bungled,  and  my  manage- 
ment was  less  clumsy  than  I wished,  and 
my  wisdom  sometimes  failed  to  be  equal  to 
the  sad  emergency,  for  all  of  which  I can- 
not help  feeling  my  littleness.” 

Then  follow  twenty  pages  of  personal 
narrative  of  the  thrilling  scenes  of  the 
“Last  Days  of  the  Bakufu.”  (Bakufu, 
Tokugawa,  Keiki,  and  “ Tycoon,”  all  mean- 
ing the  same  thing.)  On  Keiki’s  return  to 
Yedo,  1867  to  1868,  great  excitement  pre- 
vailed, and  so  violent  were  the  acts  com- 
mitted, that  Katz  says  “ it  was  like  a huge 
hive  of  wild  bees  broken  loose.”  At  this 
period,  he  continues,  “ the  inhabitants  of 
Yedo  numbered  no  less  than  1,600,000. 
Groups  of  men  gathered  at  the  temples, 
300  and  500  at  a time,  in  fifty  different 
places,  and,  brandishing  their  swords,  cried 
out  they  would  fight  until  death.  The 
feu  d lords  of  the  provinces  in  sympathy 
wift’  t'okugawa  all  declared  that  the  so- 
called  Imperial  Army  was  made  up  of  dis- 
affected Satsuma  and  Choshu  clans,  who, 

46 


KEIKI  TOKUGAWA — THE  LAST  OF  THE  “TYCOONS.” 

(Presented  with  his  autograph.) 


under  the  guise  and  cover  of  imperial  au- 
thority, had  the  treacherous  design  of  over- 
throwing the  House  of  Tokugawa,  only  to 
set  up  a new  Bakufu  (or  sort  of  Tycoon- 
ism)  on  its  ruins,  to  be  governed  by  their 
own  lords.  The  outlook  was  gloomy,  and 
Keiki  summoned  his  ministers  to  a council 
of  war,  while  the  Imperial  Army  was  al- 
ready approaching  the  Hakone  Pass; 

Keiki  said ; “ War  is  terrible  to  contem- 
plate, and  thousands  of  innocent  people  will 
suffer  untold  misery,  but  what  say  you  ? 

“ I kept  silent,  but  being  personally  asked 
by  Keiki  for  my  humble  opinion,  I replied : 
‘ To  rise  or  fall,  to  exist  or  become  extinct, 
depends  upon  conditions  not  controlled  by 
any  human  power.  Should  war  be  de- 
clared, I am  resolved  to  die  for  the  cause 
of  the  Tokugawas.  I should  take  the  fleet 
to  Surunga  Bay  (near  Shidzuoka),  land 
troops  and  entice  the  enemy  towards  Port 
Shimidzu,  w'here  the  fleet  would  unex- 
pectedly attack  their  flank.’  ” (This  was 
surely  war  by  “ prearrangement  ” like 
Togo’s  subsequent  tactics  at  Port  Arthur.) 
“ ‘ I would  then  proceed  to  the  Bay  of 
Settsu  with  three  or  four  ships  of  war,’ 


49 


continues  the  belligerent  Katz  Awa,  ‘ and 
cut  communication  between  the  western 
and  middle  provinces,  both  by  land  and 
sea,  and  if  necessary  the  city  of  Osaka  can 
be  reduced  to  ashes  by  the  fire  of  our  ships. 
Thus  the  base  of  supply  for  provisions  for 
Kioto  being  cut  off,  we  may  calmly  view 
the  situation  and  await  the  result.’  ” 

This  is  certainly  the  most  bellicose  speech 
I ever  knew  Katz  Awa  to  make.  Had  the 
plan  been  carried  out,  thousands  of  men 
on  both  sides  would  have  perished.  But 
this  is  precisely  the  sort  of  sectionalism 
that  led,  only  six  years  previous,  to  our 
own  Civil  War — a war  which  our  Lincoln 
tried  to  avert,  but,  unfortunately,  was  less 
successful  as  a peacemaker  than  Katz  Awa. 

Katz  Awa’s  “ better  self  ” asserted  itself 
when,  after  a day  and  a night’s  debate,  he 
presented  this  other  alternative,  viz. : “ The 
spirit  of  Kwanto  (war)  is,  I confess,  the 
spirit  of  passion.  If  we  could  only  demon- 
strate our  peaceful  intentions,  with  the  sole 
purpose  of  tranquillity,  for  the  happiness 
and  safety  of  the  people,  and  are  willing 
to  sacrifice  our  personal  interests  and  pos- 
sessions, to  surrender  even  our  arms  and 


50 


castles,  thus  leaving  the  fate  of  the  House 
of  the  Tokugawas  to  the  will  of  Heaven, 
and  this  for  the  sake  of  our  common  coun- 
try, then  will  nothing  be  able  to  harm  us.” 
How  near  this  comes  to  the  Gospel  state- 
ment in  I Peter  3:13,  viz.,  “ And  who  is  he 
that  will  harm  you  if  ye  be  followers  of 
that  which  is  good?” 

“ Keiki  approved  the  last  part  of  my 
counsel,”  continues  Katz  Awa,  “ and  as 
there  was  no  one  with  nerve  enough  to  try 
and  carry  it  out,  I was  prevailed  upon  to 
undertake  the  awful  responsibility.” 

How  well  he  performed  the  trust  appears 
briefly  and  imperfectly  in  other  parts  of 
this  sketch,  and  how  well  the  present  Mi- 
kado appreciates  it  appears  in  the  closing 
paragraph  of  this  little  book. 

What  suffering  and  perplexity  Katz  Awa 
himself  underwent  few  will  ever  know. 
The  first  response  of  the  Tokugawa  fol- 
lowers when  they  heard  of  his  peaceful 
proposition  was,  “ We  will  cut  off  Katz 
Awa’s  head  and  offer  it  as  a sacrifice  to 
the  God  of  War,  as  he  is  surrendering  us 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.” 

“ Not  a shadow  of  doubt  did  I have,” 


51 


says  Katz,  a little  later,  “ that  I was  pro- 
ceeding right.  I resolved  that  if,  in  the 
imminent  danger  to  the  city,  we  could  not 
save  the  innocent  multitude,  we  should,  at 
least,  be  the  first  to  sacrifice  ourselves.  I 
acted  on  it,  and  on  the  fourteenth  day  of 
the  same  month  I visited  Saigo,  handing 
him  the  following  letter,  addressed  To  the 
General  Staff  Officer,  Headquarters  of  the 
Imperial  Army,’*  etc.,  etc. 

In  this  interview  Katz  said  to  Saigo: 
“ If  you  are  bent  on  threatening  weak  peo- 
ple with  brutal  force,  we  shall  not  shrink 
from  accepting  the  challenge.  Even  as  it 
is,  we  are  making  ourselves  the  laughing 
stock  of  foreign  nations.  If  you  will  spare 
the  city,  I will  be  personally  and  officially 
grateful  even  unto  death.  When  the  Mi- 
kado is  restored  Yedo  will  naturally  be- 
come the  capital  of  the  new  empire;  the 
castle  and  its  equipments  are  yours,  and 
the  land  yielding  millions  of  koku  of  rice 
to  the  House  of  Tokugawa  can  help  supply 
administrative  expenditure.  Besides,  as 
foreign  complications  are  now  pending,  we 
must  beware  that  our  helpless  country  does 
not  follow  the  disastrous  example  and  fate 


52 


of  India  and  similar  conquered  countries. 
In  the  face  of  a common  danger  internal 
strife  should  give  place  to  patriotic  har- 
mony and  helpfulness;  and  foreign  coun- 
tries seeing  this,  their  faith  in  us  will  be 
strengthened  and  their  friendship  aug- 
mented.” 

“ Saigo  immediately  countermanded  the 
order  for  the  assault  contemplated  on  the 
city  on  the  morrow,  and  I returned  alone 
on  horseback  to  report  to  Keiki.  I was 
not  surprised  to  be  fired  on  three  times,  at 
dusk,  as  I approached  my  house.  Fortu- 
nately the  bullets  passed  over  my  head,  and 
I escaped.  The  insurgents  had  said  if  they 
could  only  kill  Katz  Awa  and  Saigo  they 
W’ould  have  both  leaders  out  of  the  way. 

“ Shortly  after  this  I went  to  Yokohama 
and  saw  the  British  Minister,  Sir  Harry 
Parkes,  and  also  Admiral  Keppel,  and  told 
them  privately  of  the  situation.  They 
heartily  approved  my  views,  but  also  men- 
tioned a question  pending  between  us  con- 
cerning certain  persons  who  had  been 
imprisoned  for  adopting  the  Christian  re- 
ligion. I at  once  ordered  their  release. 
The  Imperial  Army  not  having  yet  arrived, 


53 


I dispatched  several  companies  of  Toku- 
gawa  troops  to  Kanagawa,  to  protect  the 
foreign  residents.  These  troops  secretly- 
agreed  among  themselves  to  attack  the  Im- 
perial Army.  Learning  this,  and  knowing 
that  Yokohama  would  be  imperilled,  I with- 
drew the  troops,  enlisted  the  services  of 
the  local  police,  and  arranged  with  the 
British  Minister  to  land  marines  (so  as  to 
preserve  order)  from  the  British  battleship 
‘ Iron  Duke.’  Thus  access  to  the  town 
was  forbidden  to  the  Imperial  troops,  ex- 
cept by  producing  English  passports.  The 
result  was  that  order  was  maintained,  for- 
eign property  protected,  and  thousands  of 
refugees  came  from  Yedo  and  settled 
there  in  peace.  The  Tokugawa  army  was 
organized  under  the  French  system,  but 
the  navy  under  the  English  system.  We 
had  official  instructors  from  both  countries 
in  both  departments. 

“ The  head  of  the  French  military  mis- 
sion visited  me  in  this  crisis  and  said : 
‘ Your  officers  and  soldiers  have  had  suffi- 
cient training  and  can  be  depended  upon. 
I am  sure  you  can  win  a complete  victory 
in  any  fight  with  the  raw  Imperial  troops, 

54 


and  it  is  a great  deal  easier  to  make  peace 
after  a victory  than  before.  Fight  first  and 
stipulate  afterwards/  was  his  earnest  ad- 
vice. Then  he  lectured  me  how  easily  the 
Hakone  Pass  could  be  held,  and  that  the 
Yedo  Castle,  with  its  triple  line  of  moats, 
towers,  and  substantial  stone  walls,  could 
be  certainly  more  easily  held  from  within 
than  without.  I thanked  him  for  his  ad- 
vice, which  he  thrice  repeated  before  leav- 
ing Yedo. 

“ On  the  other  hand,  the  English  instruc- 
tor in  our  navy  (Tracy)  must  have  greatly 
sympathized  with  me  in  the  onerous  and 
difficult  position  in  which  I found  myself, 
and  he  expressed  to  me  many  kind  words, 
for  which  I still  feel  indebted. 

“ A few  of  our  ships  secretly  deserted 
,nd  went  to  Hakodadi,  where  an  encounter 
afterwards  occurred,  and  the  “ Stonewall 
Jackson  ” settled  the  matter  by  sinking  two 
of  the  vagrants.  In  the  Imperial  proclama- 
tion, issued  later  from  the  Yedo  Castle,  it 
is  definitely  and  unambiguously  stated,  that 
‘ In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  House  of 
Tokugawa,  since  the  days  of  its  founder, 
lyeas,  has  done  the  meritorious  deed  of 


55 


governing  the  country  in  peace — and  that 
for  more  than  two  hundred  years — His 
Majesty,  the  Mikado,  is  graciously  pleased 
to  allow  the  said  house  to  be  perpetuated 
and  leniently  treated,  and  the  life  of  the 
Keiki  to  be  spared  in  retirement  and  seclu- 
sion ’ (at  Shidzuoka). 

“ I had  succeeded  in  surrendering  the 
castle  without  the  Imperialists  openly 
marching  any  soldiers  into  it.  Meanwhile 
the  fleet  had  left  for  Tateyama  in  Awa 
against  my  remonstrance.  Asked  by  the 
Imperialists  to  recall  them,  I went  to  Awa, 
brought  them  back,  and  delivered  the  half 
of  them  to  the  Imperialists  while  the  others 
fled  to  Hakodadi. 

“ After  the  delivery  of  the  castle  our  of- 
ficers scattered  and  deserted  to  the  number 
of  several  thousand,  being  highly  enraged 
at  the  turn  affairs  had  taken.  They  al- 
lied themselves  in  groups  with  the  feudal 
lords  of  Mutsu  and  Dewa,  and  still  con- 
federated in  action  against  the  Imperial 
arms.  Hence  the  so-called  ‘ battle  of 
Uyeno  ’ and  other  desultory  skirmishes,  in 
which  the  most  beautiful  temple  grounds 


56 


were  destroyed  and  some  Samurai  lives 
sacrificed. 

“ Future  generations  must  judge,”  says 
Katz  Awa  in  conclusion,  “ of  what  the  dif- 
ficulties were  in  bringing  unity  and  order 
out  of  this  complexity  and  chaos. 

“ In  these  later  days  of  the  Tokugawas, 
when  warlike  vigilance  had  slackened, 
when  foreign  commerce  commenced,  and 
general  disquietude  prevailed,  there  were 
ten  years  when  the  national  safety  was 
threatened  because  people  were  never 
united,  the  feudal  lords  were  at  variance, 
and  the  supreme  authority  in  doubt.  Ow- 
ing at  last  to  the  natural  turn  of  fortune, 
there  has  dawned  the  united  era  of  Meiji, 
which,  though  due  to  the  merits  of  Im- 
perial virtue,  owes  much  of  its  success  to 
the  heroic  sacrifice  of  brave  men,  who  for- 
got themselves,  their  own  homes  and  lives, 
for  the  lasting  good  of  their  common  coun- 
try.” 

And  we  may  add  this  postscript  of  Katz 
Awa  personally,  as  Creasy  says  in  his  pre- 
face of  the  “ Fourteen  Decisive  Battles  of 
the  World,”  starting  with  Marathon  and 


57 


ending  with  Waterloo,  “ Of  which,  had  the 
contrary  event  happened,  it  would  materi- 
ally have  changed  the  history  of  the  world 
in  many  of  its  subsequent  stages.” 

Katz  Awa  not  only  effected  the  restora- 
tion of  Imperial  supremacy,  but  in  addi- 
tion to  the  castle  equipments  and  the  naval 
fleet,  he  also  “ restored  ” four  million  an- 
nual koku  of  rice  to  the  Imperial  treasury. 
This  he  advised  them  to  use  with  discre- 
tion, otherwise  the  new  regime  was  no 
better  than  the  old,  and  would  resemble  the 
fable  of  a soldier  who,  “ having  fled  from 
the  enemy  fifty  steps,  laughed  at  another 
soldier  who  had  fled  a hundred  steps.” 

“ Future  generations  must  not  rest  con- 
tent,” he  says,  “ with  the  meritorious  deeds 
of  the  past,  or  abandon  themselves  to  lux- 
ury and  ease,  satisfied  simply  with  the  res- 
toration of  the  Imperial  power,  but  should 
lay  broad  and  deep  the  foundations  of  a 
progressive  and  military  nation,  elevating 
by  united  effort  their  country’s  prestige  in 
the  Far  East,  and  not  forgetting  to  let  their 
power  be  felt  in  the  world. 

“ Such  is  my  hope,  and  could  I but  see  it 
realized,  I should  not  shudder  at  the 

58 


THE  MIKADO,  HIS  GENERAI.S  AND  COUNSELLORS  — ADMIRAL 
TOGO  ON  UPPER  LEFT  HAND. 


thought  of  being  beheaded  or  enduring 
any  punishment,  however  severe. 

“ In  fact,  at  the  time  of  the  Uyeno  affair, 
I knew  there  could  be  no  unity  in  the  at- 
tack and  no  menace  to  the  national  safety. 
They  were  simply  letting  out  their  accumu- 
lated wrath ; so  the  larger  the  crowd,  the 
easier  to  crush  it.  Their  conduct  was  like 
that  of  frightened  children  wearing  hideous 
masks.  Some  of  their  staff  officers  said  I 
was  at  the  bottom  of  the  whole  business  for 
surrendering  my  fleet  to  the  Imperialists, 
so  after  their  discomfiture  at  the  Uyeno 
fight,  they  attacked  my  house  with  two 
hundred  troops  and  plundered  my  weapons 
after  firing  into  the  house. 

“ Fortunately  I was  not  at  home,  so  my 
life  was  spared  this  time. 

“ However,  I went  to  two  of  the  princes 
and  said,  ‘ If  I have  committed  any  crime 
worthy  of  death  summon  me  before  the 
Imperial  headquarters,  and  there  behead 
me,  but  do  not  treat  me  like  a culprit  un- 
condemned. 

“ Whereupon  the  commander-in-chief  ex- 
pressed surprise  at  the  occurrence,  saying. 


6i 


" We  have  never  doubted  your  loyalty/  and 
steps  were  taken  for  my  protection.” 

As  late  as  1872,  when  the  wheels  of  the 
new  Meiji  Government  were  well  in  mo- 
tion, Katz  Awa  was  three  times  called  from 
his  seclusion  at  Shidzuoka,  to  become  the 
trusted  pilot  in  the  increasing  mists  and 
mazes  of  foreign  intercourse. 

The  new  government  simply  could  not 
get  along  (in  its  initial  swaddling  clothes) 
without  him,  and  frankly  told  him  so.  But 
their  gain  was  my  loss,  especially  as  they 
kept  taking  away  my  best  students  for  of- 
ficial positions  at  the  capital,  and  after  two 
years  and  a half  of  exile  in  the  interior,  I 
yielded  to  Katz  Awa’s  persuasion  (which 
amounted  to  a command),  and  went  to 
Tokio,  too. 

Then  it  was  that  he  slightly  modified  his 
tactics  in  his  daily  contact  with  the  Cabinet 
Ministers;  and  as  he  remarked  to  me  one 
evening,  with  a merry  twinkle  in  his  eye, 

I have  to  treat  some  of  them  like  school 
children,  scolding  them  one  day  and  prais- 
ing them  the  next.” 

The  reason  the  writer  emphasizes  a few 
historical  facts  here  is  that  they  have  been 

62 


so  little  understood,  all  the  data  coming 
from  ONE  SIDE  ONLY.  It  is  not  often  that 
a man  can  see  both  sides  at  once,  but  Katz 
Awa  did,  and  that  is  what  made  him  a 
unique  character.  Slowly  he  is  becoming 
appreciated,  even  by  the  native  historians 
as  well  as  by  foreign  writers.  Mr.  Oka- 
kura-Kakuzo,  in  his  “ Awakening  of 
Japan”  (Century  Co.,  New  York,  1904), 
is  the  first  native  writer  I have  seen  to  ad- 
mit, on  page  24,  that  “ the  Tokugawa  Sho- 
gunate  differed  from  those  preceding  it  in 
that  it  was  virtually  a monarchy,”  which 
means  that  Keiki  would  now  be  emperor 
instead  of  Mutsuhito  if  it  had  kept  on.  It 
certainly  sent  the  first  embassy  to  the 
United  States,  and  it  alone  made  the  Com- 
modore Perry  Treaty.  The  same  author 
admits,  page  160,  that  “the  late  Count 
Katz  Awa  was  the  most  trusted  counsellor 
and  Unionist  leader,  although  Prince  Kei- 
ki’s  other  vassals  were  of  a pronounced 
federal  (or  rather  confederate)  type.” 
Prince  Keiki,  by  the  way,  still  lives  at 
Shidzuoka,  and  is  fond  of  photography  and 
falcon-hunting.  I once  invited  him  to  go 
falcon-hunting  with  me  with  his  own 

63 


"hawks.  He  meekly  declined,  but  sent  me 
an  autograph  letter  accompanying  a pres- 
ent of  an  immense  porcelain  bowl  worth  a 
thousand  dollars,  and  carried  by  eight  men. 

I got  into  it  once  and  had  my  picture 
taken,  whereupon  Sam  Patch,  my  servant, 
extemporized  a bath-tub  for  me  one  day, 
putting  hot  water  into  it,  when  it  resisted 
such  plebeian  proceedings  and  exploded 
with  the  report  of  a cannon. 

Keiki  gave  me  the  accompanying  picture, 
at  Katz  Awa’s  request,  on  my  last  visit  to 
Shidzuoka,  and  also  kindly  sent  his  auto- 
graph. His  successor.  Prince  lyesato  To- 
kugawa,  who  is  now  President  of  the 
House  of  Peers  in  Tokio,  also  sent  me  let- 
ters beautifully  written  in  English.  He  told 
me,  when  I dined  with  him  at  Katz  Awa’s 
house,  that  he  had  studied  in  London. 
(He  contributed  500,000  yen  at  that  time 
to  the  first  war  fund.)  He  inherits  the 
insignia  and  emoluments  of  the  Tokugawa 
line,  his  unique  position  and  privileges  being 
conferred  by  enactment  of  the  Imperial 
Court.  After  dinner  at  Katz  Awa’s,  al- 
though it  was  late,  I succeeded  in  getting 
the  “ last  picture  ” of  Katz  Awa  and  Prince 

64 


Tokugawa  standing  in  the  gateway  of  the 
garden.  Katz  Awa  is  on  the  right,  and 
has  his  hands  crossed. 

One  would  not-  think  on  looking  at  the 
quiet  old  gentleman  that  his  life  had  been 
so  frequently  attempted  near  this  very  spot, 
and  that  in  personal  heroism  and  patriot- 
ism he  “ set  the  pace  ” for  what  we  have 
since  seen  in  Manchuria.  Of  thi^  charac- 
teristic of  native  courage  the  writer  Ka- 
kuzo,  just  quoted,  says  (page  173)  : “ The 
contempt  of  death  displayed  by  our  people 
is  not  founded  on  some  hope  of  future  re- 
ward, like  the  Moslems,  as  a few  Western 
writers  suppose.  It  is  the  sense  of  duty 
alone  that  causes  our  men  to  march  to  cer- 
tain death.  Behind  all  lies  devotion  to  the 
sovereign  and  love  of  country — a love 
which,  like  death,  recognizes  no  limits.” 
At  the  “ restoration  ” he  adds,  “ It  was  the 
spirit  of  self-sacrifice  only  that  led  the  Sa- 
murai to  give  up  his  sword,  the  Daimio 
his  fiefs,  and  the  Shogun  his  hereditary 
authority.”  It  was  Katz  Awa  who  “ led 
the  pace  ” in  this  matter  also.  ' 

He  was  the  pivot  on  which  “ Transition  ” 
turned. 


65 


Yet  in  criticism  he  was  always  just, 
though  frequently  sarcastic.  His  smile  was 
inimitable,  and  his  humor  irresistible.  He 
was  ever  fond  of  a joke.  When  I asked 
him  for  one  of  the  marine  bands  to  play 
at  the  iMikado’s  palace  at  my  exhibition  of 
stereopticon  pictures  there  before  the  Im- 
perial Court,  he  sent  me  two  full  bands,  so 
that  I had  sixty  pieces,  making  noise 
enough  to  deafen  the  Mikado,  who  after- 
wards sent  me,  however,  the  beautiful  pres- 
ent seen  in  the  picture. 


66 


CHAPTER  IV 


KATZ  A\VA"s  domestic  LIFE  AND  FINAL  AC- 
CEPTANCE OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  FAITH 

The  Japanese  may  not  improve  Chris- 
tianity, as  they  have  some  recent  scientific 
innovations,  but  they  will  doubtless  im- 
prove our  ways  of  extending  it. 

What  they  demand  is  the  simple  story  of 
the  Cross,  exemplified  by  the  simple  and 
consistent  Christian  life.  They  want  a 
strenuous  Christianity  withal,  for  it  suits 
their  mental  make-up. 

Francis  Xavier  asked  the  Japanese  refu- 
gee Anjiro,  at  Goa,  as  early  as  the  six- 
teenth century,  whether  his  countrymen 
would  accept  Christianity  if  sent  to  them. 

He  replied  that  they  would  listen  to  any 
reasonable  preaching  of  the  truth,  watch 
how  consistent  the  lives  of  those  who  pro- 
claimed it  were  with  their  principles,  and 

67 


embrace  any  religion  thus  proving  itself 
to  be  genuine. 

Somehow  the  letter  I received  this  week 
from  Baron  Kentaro  Kaneko,  LL.D.,  a 
graduate  of  Harvard  University,  and  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Peers,  sounds 
very  much  like  x-\njiro’s  answer,  and  sug- 
gests that  Japan  expects  the  same  sort  of 
evidence  in  the  twentieth  century,  espe- 
cially in  the  present  crisis,  as  she  did  in 
the  sixteenth  century. 

“ We  have  had  doctrines  and  sermons 
for  fifty  years  since  Perry’s  advent,”  writes 
the  Baron,  “ and  millions  of  dollars  have 
been  spent  to  proselyte  us.  The  time  has 
finally  arrived  when  some  of  these  excel- 
lent doctrines  and  beneficent  sermons 
should  be  put  into  practice.  How  it  pains 
me  to  hear  that  hundreds  of  our  soldiers 
are  daily  being  slaughtered  in  defence  of 
their  country,  leaving  behind  dependent 
wives  and  children  utterly  helpless ! To 
keep  on  simply  ‘ preaching  ’ under  such 
heart-rending  circumstances  as  these  is 
certainly  worse  than  sounding  brass  and 
tinkling  cymbals.  One  helpful  act  in  such 
a sorrowful  moment  as  this  will  be  far 


68 


more  effective  than  a thousand  sermons 
later  on.  In  a hundred  years  there  will 
never  again  be  such  an  opportunity,  and 
Christian  helpfulness  rendered  under  pres- 
ent conditions  will  surely  capture  the  hearts 
of  all  the  Japanese  people,  and  will  never 
be  forgotten.” 

In  response  to  this  and  similar  letters, 
has  been  sent  out  the  Christmas  appeal 
containing  the  words,  “ The  sword  un- 
sheathed to-day  in  Japan,  for  the  progress 
of  the  world  has  now,  as  ever,  cut  deeply 
into  the  family  life.”  “ We  may  not  help 
belligerents,  but  we  may  help  the  suffer- 
ing and  distressed.  The  Red  Cross  of  Pity 
is  neutral  in  every  clime,  and  the  claims 
of  helpless  children  are  a challenge  to 
Christian  love  and  beneficence  the  world 
over.”  And  the  Master’s  words  are  added 
— a Master  whose  we  are  and  whom  we 
serve — when  He  distinctly  declares  that 
“ Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  unto  the  least  of 
these  My  brethren,  ye  did  it  unto  Me.” 
While  the  sometimes  forgotten  postscript 
of  our  motto  is  that  “ Inasmuch  as  ye  did 
it  NOT  unto  the  least  of  these,  ye  did  it  not 
unto  me.”  A warning,  the  neglect  of 

69 


which  our  Lord  shows  to  be  followed  by 
wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth,  a more 
forcible  simile  than  the  quiet  hint  I have 
received  from  high  sources,  that  if  Chris- 
tianity fails  in  practical  helpfulness  in  this 
emergency  it  might  as  well  withdraw  its 
teachers  of  beneficence  from  Japan.  We 
are  on  trial,  as  well  as  the  Japanese, 
whether  we  realize  it  or  not. 

In  Baron  Kaneko’s  recent  address  be- 
fore the  Japan  Club  of  Harvard,  he  says: 
“ The  very  school  children  hoarding  up 
their  money  and  the  pittance  with  which 
to  purchase  books,  have  carried  these  as 
offerings  to  the  treasury  department.  The 
war  will  be  long  and  terrible,  and  we  real- 
ize it.  This  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  when 
a soldier  or  sailor  is  sent  to  the  front,  his 
family  is  taken  care  of  by  his  neighbors  or 
by  the  village  community.  Landlords  make 
it  a rule  to  collect  no  rent  from  his  familv, 
and  doctors  treat  the  sick  family  free  of 
charge.  In  anticipation,  also,  of  many 
thousand  widows  and  orphans  who  must 
be  left  behind,  a relief  fund  association  has 
been  established  among  the  people  them- 


70 


JAl’ANESE-AMERICAN  GRANDCHILDREN  OF  KATZ  AWA — 
WALTER  AND  I’.ERTHA  WHITNEY  KAJI. 


selves,  who  out  of  their  poverty  have  al- 
ready contributed  1,300,000  yen. 

“ This  war  is  neither  racial  nor  religious 
in  character,”  continues  the  Baron.  “ It 
is  a Rattle  for  Japan’s  national  existence; 
a struggle  for  the  advancement  of  Anglo- 
American  civilization  in  the  East,  and 
undertaken  to  insure  the  peace  of  Asia.” 
To  call  Russia  “ Christian  ” and  Japan 
“ pagan  ” in  this  crisis  is  reversing  the 
story  of  the  Good  Samaritan. 

Then  the  Baron  quotes  the  story  of  a 
certain  man  who  went  down  to  Jericho, 
and  fell  among  thieves,  who  left  him 
wounded,  stripped,  and  bleeding.  The  pro- 
fessional priest  and  Levite  (Russian-like 
in  their  treatment  of  their  wounded  foes) 
“ passed  by  on  the  other  side.”  Whereupon 
the  despised  Samaritan,  in  the  person  of 
the  “ pagan  ” Japanese,  comes  along,  dis- 
mounts, and  binds  up  the  wounds  of  even 
his  enemy.  And  the  narrator  says,  in  per- 
fect truth,  that  the  performer  of  the  Christ- 
like  deed,  and  he  who  is  obedient  to  the 
Christ-command,  “ Go  thou  and  do  like- 
wise,” is  the  one  who  loves  his  neighbor, 
and  comes  nearest  to  the  standard  set  by 


73 


Christ  Himself.  In  the  light  of  the  awful 
reports  we  have  of  the  brutal  treatment  of 
Japanese  wounded  left  in  the  few  trenches 
the  enemy  have  captured,  and  then  calling 
the  Russian  Cossacks  “ Christian,”  we  are 
reminded  of  Madame  Roland’s  exclamation 
on  the  way  to  execution,  viz.,  “ O Liberty ! 
what  crimes  are  committed  in  thy  name.” 
Compare  this  with  the  care  of  the  wounded 
of  BOTH  sides  in  the  hands  of  these  “ pa- 
gan ” Japanese,  and  see  how  the  sanitary 
conditions,  medical  skill,  freedom  from 
disease,  and  percentage  of  recovery  com- 
pare with  any  similar  statistics  in  modern 
time.  Dr.  L.  L.  Seaman  in  his  book,  “From 
Tokio  Through  Manchuria  with  the  Jap- 
anese,” gives  overwhelming  evidence,  from 
personal  observation,  that  no  such  com- 
mendable record  in  the  history  of  modern 
warfare  can  equal  it.  The  Japanese  Sa- 
maritan has  outstripped  every  “ Christian  ” 
competitor.  And  if  the  Lord  Himself  were 
here.  He  would  say,  “ Well  done,  good 
and  faithful  servant.”  Even  if  Japan  is 
sometimes  criticized  for  apparently  com- 
mencing hostilities,  rather  than  com- 
mended for  the  years  and  years  of  pa- 

74 


tience  and  self-control  which  preceded,  we 
must  remember  that  Russia  fired  the  first 
shot  ” of  the  war  from  the  “ Korietz,”  near 
the  harbor  of  Chemulpo.  The  first  shot  at 
Fort  Sumter  was  from  the  Confederate 
side,  and  whoever  fires  on  the  Sun  Flag 
of  Japan  will  henceforth  find  a spirit  of 
determination  behind  it,  like  that  which 
burst  forth  in  behalf  of  the  Stars  and 
Stripes. 

“ If  the  Lord  Himself  were  here,”  when, 
in  the  early  seventies,  the  few  Japanese 
converts  to  Christianity  discovered  that 
little  verse  in  the  17th  of  St.  John’s  Gos- 
pel, which  is  the  key  to  all  scriptural  mis- 
sionary success,  He  would  have  counselled 
them,  I believe,  as  some  of  us  Christian 
professors  in  the  Imperial  University  tried 
to  do,  when  they  asked  us  in  anxiety  and 
perplexity,  whether  they  should  unify  their 
feeble  numbers  in  organizing  simply  a 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ  in  Japan,  or  split 
themselves  up  in  the  fragmentary  way 
their  denominational  teachers  insisted  and 
advised  ? Our  advice  was,  “ Go  ahead  in 
the  spirit  of  the  text,  ‘ That  they  all  may 
be  one,  . . . that  the  world  may  believe,’ 


75 


etc.”  Whereupon  they  established  a native 
Union  Church  at  Yokohama,  built  on  the 
very  spot  where  Perry  made  his  treaty, 
and  the  first  thousand  dollars  contributed 
was  given  by  the  native  converts  of  the 
Hawaiian  Islands.  The  first  object-lesson 
seen  by  the  traveller  in  landing  in  Japan 
is  this  enduring  stone  edifice  emblematic  of 
Christian  unity. 

Near  this  spot  it  was  that  Katz  Awa 
once  liberated  Catholic  and  Russian  priests, 
imprisoned  for  their  respective  faiths,  and 
that  he  also  sent  a messenger,  Xakamura, 
to  me  from  Tokio,  saying,  “ You  have 
broken  down  Japanese  walls,  for  now  you 
can  teach  us  both  science  and  Christianity.” 
He  had  learned  that  the  Department  of 
State  had  inserted  a clause  in  my  contract 
(not  in  the  original  document  which  he 
himself  had  forwarded  to  America)  for- 
bidding me  for  three  years  to  speak  of  or 
teach  Christianity.  I refused  to  sign  it, 
though  the  stand  I took  put  me  in  grave 
financial  straits.  Katz  Awa  and  Iwakura 
(whose  sons  I had  befriended  in  New 
Brunswick)  knew  this,  and  by  their  com- 
bined influence  the  Dai  Jo-Kan  receded. 

76 


and  the  objectionable  clause  was  with- 
drawn. 

So,  too,  a few  years  later,  when  I started 
two  Bible  classes  in  the  Legal  and  Scien- 
tific departments  of  the  Tokio  University 
(held  in  my  own  house  on  Sundays  only), 
Katz  Awa  smiled,  admired  my  pluck,  and 
gave  me  encouragement,  while  Hatake- 
yama,  who  was  then  President,  quietly 
said : “ Of  course  I cannot  officially  give 
you  permission ; but,”  he  added,  with  a 
knowing  look,  “ go  ahead,  and  God  bless 
you,  and  I will  be  diplomatically  blind  to 
your  doings.” 

Japan  has  passed  the  darkest  days  of  her 
religious  history,  and  the  brightest  beams 
of  spiritual  light  are  yet  to  emanate  from 
the  land  of  the  sun  rising.  The  latent 
qualities  for  the  intensive  Christian  life  are 
there.  Were  I to  seek  conditions  where 
the  Holy  Spirit  delights  to  dwell,  and 
where  Pentecostal  surprises,  “ as  of  the 
sound  of  a mighty  rushing  wind  ” are  to  be 
expected,  I would  seek  it  in  Japan,  I dis- 
covered more  of  the  Spirit’s  presence  and 
power  in  teaching  His  own  Word  on  the 
matted  floor  of  that  old  Buddhist  temple. 


77 


where  Katz  Awa  placed  me,  than  I ever 
found  in  Christian  pulpit  or  cushioned  pew. 
i\Iy  necessity  was  God’s  opportunity,  and 
when  He  brings  us  to  “ the  end  of  the 
rope,”  in  difficulties  of  language,  discipline 
and  danger,  or,  later  on  perchance,  into  the 
deeper  shades  of  our  own  Gethsemane,  we 
learn  adoringly  who  He  is  and  whom  we 
serve. 

Not  only  in  Dai  Nippon,  but  in  America 
I have  used  Japanese  evangelists  with 
marked  success,  for  their  sincerity  of  be- 
lief, earnestness  of  utterance  and  evident 
companionship  with  God  gave  thfem  re- 
sults in  winning  those  whom  some  of  us 
ministers  had  failed  to  reach.  Japan  is  the 
freshest  field  of  the  Spirit’s  power  to-day, 
and  God  will  show  what  wonders  He  can 
do  among  the  children  of  men. 

Wdien  my  good  friend.  Rev.  Geo.  C. 
Needham,  went  on  an  evangelistic  tour 
through  Japan  a few'  years  ago,  I wTOte 
him  that  I w'anted  him  to  go  and  see  Katz 
Awa,  in  the  quiet  of  that  modest  home, 
where  so  many  notew’orthy  personages  had 
called,  whether  they  came  to  kill  or  to  save. 
I sent  Mr.  Needham  a letter  of  introduc- 

78 


tion,  and  he  promptly  called,  attended  by  a 
native  pastor  as  interpreter. 

Katz  Awa  read  the  letter  and  received 
his  religious  visitors  graciously.  For  an 
hour  or  more  he  listened  to  the  truths  of 
the  Gospel  as  presented  by  Mr.  Needham. 
The  interview,  though  brief  like  that  be- 
tween Philip  and  the  eunuch,  was  (as  may 
be  seen  by  a letter  following)  equally  ef- 
fective. At  the  close  Mr.  Needham,  with 
some  hesitation,  asked  Katz  Awa  if  he 
would  kneel  in  prayer.  Katz  immediately 
consented,  the  prayer  being  interpreted, 
sentence  by  sentence,  by  the  native  pastor. 
As  they  rose  from  their  knees  Katz  stood 
with  moistened  eyes,  and,  grasping  the 
evangelist’s  hand,  thanked  him,  in  a sub- 
dued voice,  for  the  greatest  privilege  of 
his  life.  Japanese  rarely  show  emotion, 
and  the  man,  who  in  this  very  place  had 
fearlessly  faced  would-be  assassins,  was 
conquered  by  the  simple  story  of  the  Cross. 
The  truth  once  seen  was  recognized  as  the 
power  of  God  unto  salvation. 

It  is  a fact,  not  generally  known,  that 
Katz  Awa’s  own  son  married  Miss  Clara 
Whitney,  daughter  of  the  late  William  C. 

79 


Whitney  (U.  S.  A.),  who  assumed  the 
name  of  Kaji,  meaning-  “ helm  ” or  “ rud- 
der,” and  that,  in  compliance  with  Katz 
Awa’s  last  request  some  of  his  grandchil- 
dren are  now  being  educated  in  this  coun- 
try. From  the  mother  of  this  interesting 
family  I received  a letter  this  week,  in- 
closing beautiful  pictures  of  these  Jap- 
anese-American  children,  ranging  from 
six  to  sixteen  years  of  age.  A photograph 
of  the  two  elder  children,  fifteen  and  six- 
teen respectively,  I have  reproduced.  The 
other  group  represents  “ three  generations  ” 
of  the  Katz  family,  Madame  Katz  being 
near  the  centre.  It  was  given  to  me  by  the 
old  gentleman  himself,  at  the  close  of  a ban- 
quet in  1895  at  his  own  house,  at  the  close 
of  which,  as  a special  and  unusual  honor, 
he  brought  out  his  entire  family  and  intro- 
duced them  to  me.  Madame  Katz  Awa  is 
the  faithful  wife  of  the  subject  of  our 
sketch,  both  of  whom  are  touchingly  re- 
ferred to  in  the  above-mentioned  letter,  ex- 
tracts from  which  are  used  by  permission, 
viz. ; “ I wish  you  all  success  in  writing  the 
story  of  a life  that  was  truly  noble  in  every 
sense  of  the  word.  My  acquaintance  with 

80 


THREE  GENERATIONS  OF  THE  KATZ  AWA  FAMII.V — 
GRANDMOTHER  KATZ  AT  RIGHT. 


the  dear  old  gentleman  began  when  I was 
thirteen  years  of  age.  Since  which  time 
my  relations  with  the  family  have  been 
most  intimate  and  helpful.  Of  course  I 
knew  little  of  his  political  career,  but  in 
domestic  life  he  was  deeply  venerated  by 
all  who  came  in  contact  with  him. 

“ The  Count  was  ever  a kind  adviser  to 
me,  and  dearly  loved  my  children.  It  was 
by  his  advice  that  I brought  them  to  the 
United  States.  He  told  me  that  he  would 
expect  great  things  of  them,  because  they 
were  the  grandchildren  of  Wm.  C.  Whit- 
ney, my  saintly  father,  and  the  Count’s 
good  friend. 

“ Katz  had  four  sons  and  three  daugh- 
ters. The  eldest  son,  who  studied  at  An- 
napolis, died  in  Tokio.  The  second  son 
died  in  childhood.  The  fourth  son  died 
recently.  My  husband  is  the  third  son, 
and  the  only  blood  relative  on  the  male 
side  left.  Preferring  (for  reasons  stated) 
not  to  assume  the  responsibility  of  title  to 
so  honorable  a family  name,  my  husband 
took  the  name  of  Kaji. 

“ By  the  law  of  primogeniture  in  Japan 
the  title  would  have  lapsed  on  the  Count’s 

S3 


death.  To  save  it,  the  family  decided  to 
adopt  Keiki’s  son,  a boy  of  twelve,  from 
the  old  Tokiigawa  stock  at  Shidziioka,  in 
place  of  Katz’s  eldest  son  deceased.  This 
would  be  the  last  tribute  of  the  grand  old 
man  to  his  ancient  feudal  lord.  It  was 
thought  by  the  family  a fitting  and  grace- 
ful close  to  a life  of  loyalty  to  lay  his  all 
at  the  feet  of  his  former  master.  So  To- 
kugawa  Keiki’s  son,  became  heir  of  the 
title  and  estate  of  Katz  Awa  by  a posthu- 
mous act  of  his.  Katz  Awa’s  youngest 
daughter,  Madame  Megata,  is  wife  of  the 
financial  advisor  of  the  Korean  Govern- 
ment. The  other  daughters  are  widowed 
and  live  at  home. 

“ My  own  children  (there  are  six  of 
them)  held  frequent  interviews  with  their 
grandfather,  and  all  of  them  are  trying  to 
be  of  credit  to  him  and  to  their  country. 
In  writing  his  autograph  in  my  album,  the 
Count  added  a beautiful  poem  about  the 
sacred  lily,  the  lotus,  growing  in  the  mud 
of  the  moat,  yet  springing  up  into  purity 
and  fragrance,  thus  typifying  how  our 
lives  can  be  sweet  and  pure  in  the  midst  of 
adverse  surroundings. 

84 


“ The  leaflet  you  mention  containing 
‘ The  Sayings  of  Count  Katz  Awa/  was 
prepared  by  Iwamoto,  principal  of  the 
Christian  Girls’  School,  Tokio.  It  treats  of 
its  subject  with  great  tenderness  and 
beauty,  giving  true  insight  into  that  no- 
bility of  character  sometimes  hidden  under 
a brusque  exterior. 

“ One  incident  I well  remember.  On 
‘ Omisoka  ’ night  the  Count  would  disguise 
himself  and  go  to  the  homes  of  poor  people 
who  could  not  afford  to  buy  the  Mochi  or 
New  Year’s  cake,  which  brings  good  luck 
during  the  year,  and  without  which  evil  is 
to  be  expected.  At  each  of  these  houses 
he  would  silently  hand  a sealed  paper  con- 
taining money  enough  to  buy  the  cake  and 
a little  over.  Thus  did  he  literally  obey 
the  Saviour’s  injunction  (whether  he  knew 
it  or  not),  ‘ Give  to  him  that  asketh.’ 

“ These  are  precisely  the  kind  of  homes 
your  present  effort  is  trying  to  reach,  and 
I wish  you  all  success  in  the  noble  work, 
just  as  he  would  have  done. 

“ My  sympathies  go  out  at  this  time  to 
the  thousands  of  poor  little  children  left 
fatherless  by  this  terrible  war,  and  I do 

85 


wish  we  might  do  something  to  help  them. 
May  the  God  of  the  widows  and  orphans 
of  every  land  lend  you  His  aid. 

“ So  earnest  was  the  Count  in  this  sort 
of  benevolence,  that  he  would  frequently 
give  away  all  the  money  he  had.  At  such 
times,  when  poor  students  from  Shidzuoka 
came  appealingly  to  his  gate,  he  would 
write  a sentence  or  proverb  on  a piece  of 
paper,  draw  a picture,  and  bid  them  sell  it 
and  supply  their  needs.  His  autograph 
alone  would  sell  for  five  yen  ($5)  at  any 
time. 

“ His  magnanimity  was  wonderful  to- 
wards those  who  had  wronged  or  harmed 
him.  He  never  retaliated,  but  with  a laugh 
passed  it  by.  If  an  accident  occurred,  he 
was  never  angered.  I remember  when  a 
careless  jinriksha  coolie  of  the  household, 
running  his  vehicle  down  the  hill  near  the 
palace,  collided  with  a cart,  throwing  his 
master  out  and  badly  bruising  him.  The 
Count  exhibited  no  vexation,  and  only 
laughed.  When  we  suggested  discharging 
the  coolie,  the  Count  said,  “ No,  he  will  be 
valuable  now,  for  the  lesson  will  make  him 
more  careful.” 


86 


“ Should  you  ever  publish  a more  com- 
plete sketch  of  the  Count,  I would  fain 
add  my  tribute  to  the  lovely  and  faithful 
wife,  who  was  his  lifelong  companion, 
trusted,  tried  and  true.  Her  life,  as  she 
narrated  it  to  me,  sounds  like  a romance. 
I fully  believe  that  her  famous  husband 
could  not  have  shone  so  brilliantly  if  he 
had  not  possessed  one  at  home  in  whom 
his  heart  could,  under  all  circumstances, 
fully  trust.  She  is  also  my  own  little  Jap- 
anese mother-in-law,  and  combines  all  the 
excellent  qualities  of  the  Japanese  women, 
with  none  of  their  faults.  When  my  own 
(American)  mother  died,  this  dear  little 
woman  came  to  me — I was  then  but  a 
child,  and  oh,  so  desolate  and  sad ! Gently 
putting  her  hand  on  my  shoulder,  she  said, 
‘ Child,  your  mother  has  gone,  God  has 
called  her.  I will  be  your  mother  now.’ 
Then  she  gathered  me  into  her  arms,  and 
ffom  that  moment  I felt  that  I had  another 
mother.  Yet  this  woman,  I suppose,  is 
what  is  called  a ‘ heathen  ’ ! 

“ She  is  now  old  and  feeble,  but  the  love 
and  kindness  of  her  heart  burn  clear  and 
true.  I have  known  her  so  many  years, 

87 


and  found  her  so  nearly  perfect,  that  some 
time  I,  too,  may  be  tempted  to  write  a little 
book  on  the  ‘ Woman  I Love,’  a life  nobler 
even  than  his.  I really  do  not  know  when 
to  stop  when  I begin  to  speak,  from  the 
fulness  of  my  heart,  of  my  dear  adopted 
parents,  especially  when  speaking  to  one 
like  vourself,  who  knew  and  loved  the  old 
gentleman  so  well. 

“ A week  or  two  before  Count  Katz 
Awa's  death,  my  brother  heard  from  his 
lips  a clear  confession  of  personal  belief  in 
Christ.  It  gladdened  our  hearts,  although 
we  all  felt  he  was  not  at  any  time  far  from 
the  Kingdom.  Some  time  previous  (and 
after  Evangelist  Xeedham’s  visit)  he  would 
refer  to  Christianity  pleasantly,  adding  in 
his  characteristically  humorous  way,  that 
he  hardly  dared  to  make  a public  profes- 
sion of  his  faith,  for  fear  the  missionaries 
would  make  him  ‘ preach  all  the  time.’  He 
was  no  Buddhist  in  these  last  days,  even 
though  he  was  buried  with  the  impressive 
Buddhist  ritual.  His  was  a state  funeral, 
and  the  family  have  nothing  to  say  about 
it.  I was  present  at  his  sudden  death,  and 
,the  terrible  ‘ death  wail  ’ of  the  entire  fam- 


S8 


KATZ  AWA  S HOUSEHOLD — MADAME  KATZ  IN  CENTER, 


ily  (a  thing  which  I did  not  know  was  ever 
practised  in  Japan)  rings  in  my  ears  even 
yet. 

“ God  bless  you  in  your  present  work 
in  behalf  of  the  orphaned  children  of  Japan. 
It  is,  I repeat,  just  what  he  would  have 
done. 

“ Very  sincerely  yours, 

“ Clara  Whitney  Kaji.” 

The  “ brother  ” referred  to  in  this  letter 
is  Dr.  Whitney,  formerly  of  the  United 
States  Legation,  who  founded  one  of  the 
first  hospitals  in  Tokio,  adjoining  Katz 
Awa’s  house.  The  Dr.  MacDonald,  of  the 
Toronto  Wesleyan  Mission,  whom  Katz 
Awa  permitted  to  occupy  my  house,  when  I 
left  Shidzuoka,  established  also  the  first  hos- 
pital and  dispensary,  in  the  interior,  in  the 
very  building  that  Katz  Awa’s  kindness 
had  provided.  From  this  developed,  later, 
the  first  self-supporting  native  church  in 
the  interior.  So  Katz  Awa  was,  after  all, 
a missionary  in  his  own  way. 

In  his  closing  days  Katz  was  again,  sym- 
pathetically on  “ both  sides  ” at  once.  The 
old  Chinese  admiral  who  commanded  in  the 


91 


naval  battle  of  Wei-hai-Wei,  had  visited 
him  shortly  before,  and  heard  from  his  lips 
the  story  of  “ restoration  ” days.  A strong 
friendship  sprung  up  between  the  two  old 
sailors.  Soon  after  the  ships  of  China  and 
Japan  fought  at  Wei-hai-Wei.  Katz  was 
very  anxious,  as  his  former  pupil,  Vice- 
Admiral  Ito,  commanded  on  the  one  side, 
while  his  newly-made  Chinese  friend  com- 
manded on  the  other.  Again  it  was,  there- 
fore, that  his  sympathies  and  solicitude 
were  with  both  combatants.  He  was 
greatly  relieved  upon  learning  that  the 
Chinese  admiral  had  surrendered  in  time 
to  save  two  hundred  of  his  promising 
young  officers,  not  only  for  their  own  sakes, 
but  for  the  future  of  China. 

The  Japan  Times  of  January,  1899,  says: 

Count  Katz  Awa  was  attacked  with  brain 
fever  of  an  alarming  character  soon  after 
his  bath  at  three  o’clock  in  the  afternoon. 
. . . All  classes  join  in  lamenting  the  death 
of  the  Count,  the  ‘ sage  of  Hikawa,’  who 
passed  away  at  the  age  of  seventy-three, 
on  the  night  of  the  19th  inst.  In  him 
Japan  has  lost  one  of  the  most  prominent 
men  of  the  present  age.  Born  in  humble 


92 


life,  he  worked  his  way  up  by  sheer  force 
of  will  and  ability,  until  he  became  the  most 
prominent  figure  of  the  Shogunate  Govern- 
ment. He  it  was  who  completed  the  terms 
which  peacefully  transformed  the  reign  of 
the  Tokugawas  to  the  present  era  of  Meiji. 
Exercising  as  he  did  the  most  powerful  in- 
fluence over  the  Shogun  Keiki,  had  he  with 
misguided  loyalty  advised  him  to  resist  the 
Imperial  Army  by  force  of  arms,  the  ‘ res- 
toration,’ if  attained  at  all,  would  have  been 
attended  with  disaster  and  bloodshed.’’ 

“ In  his  death,”  says  the  Japan  Monthly 
Evangelist,  “Japan  loses  the  most  vener- 
able figure  in  her  public  life.  It  was  this 
statesman  who  became  the  first  captain  of 
the  Japanese  navy,  established  the  first 
naval  college  in  her  history,  and  was  made 
the  first  Minister  of  Marine.  By  his  wis- 
dom it  was  that  the  administrative  power 
was  restored  to  our  present  Emperor.  And, 
in  short,  we  may  add  that  the  ‘Mikado’s 
Empire,’  became  possible. 

“ In  recognition  of  this  it  was  that,  in 
later  years,  Katz  Awa  was  made  a Peer,  a 
Count,  a Privy  Counsellor,  and  a month  or 
so  before  his  death  the  Emperor  also  deco- 


93 


rated  him  with  the  Grand  Cordon  of  the 
Rising  Sun. 

“ The  Mikado  defrayed  the  entire  fu- 
neral expenses,  His  Majesty  sending  3,000 
yen  ($3,000)  for  this  purpose.  He  also 
sent  his  Lord  Chamberlain  with  presents  of 
flowers,  sweet  cakes,  and  three  rolls  of  silk 
brocade  for  the  family.  (These  are  cere- 
monial gifts.)  The  service  was  accord- 
ing to  the  Buddhist  ritual,  simple  and  im- 
pressive, and  most  of  the  money  was  given 
to  the  poor,  as  the  Count  had  left  strict 
orders  that  all  unnecessary  pomp,  ostenta- 
tion and  display  should  be  avoided.” 

His  Imperial  Majesty,  the  Mikado,  sent 
the  following  message  of  condolence  to  the 
bereaved  family,  viz. : 

“ With  wonderful  foresight  the  deceased 
encouraged,  during  the  last  days  of  the  To- 
kugawa  regency,  the  creation  of  a navy  for 
national  defence. 

“ At  the  time  of  the  ‘ restoration,’  by  ten- 
dering advice  to  his  former  Tokugawa 
master,  he  enabled  him  to  peacefully  sur- 
render the  power  vested  in  him  as  a trust. 
Installed  subsequently  in  many  positions 
of  responsibility,  the  deceased  discharged 


94 


his  duties  with  ever-increasing  faithful- 
ness. 

“ Now  that  the  sad  news  of  his  death  has 
reached  us,  we  are  overwhelmed  with  pro- 
found sorrow.  We  hereby  dispatch  our 
Lord  Chamberlain  to  carry  our  condolence 
and  gifts  to  the  family  of  our  late  beloved, 
subject. 

“ Mutsuhito.” 


95 


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